Dj Diamond Flight Muzik

NB: Here at the Pen we like to deliver opinion from a slightly different perspective. To add our comment on the current emergence of Chicago’s Juke sound, we asked the respected House/Techno DJ Nick Craddock to review Planet Mu’s latest offering from Footwork lynchpin, DJ Diamond.

Originally from the North of England, Nick began DJing in the late 90s taking his initial inspiration from the uncompromisingly rigid DJs of the era. With over a more

Review: Machinedrum – Room(s)

When it comes to New York based contemporary beatsmiths, few are as versatile, prolific and innovative as Travis Stewart, aka Machinedrum. For more than a decade he has produced and composed in a variety of different genres, from hip hop, IDM to various mutations of bass music. His latest release Room(s), brought to us by Planet Mu, is by far the best blend of all his numerous styles.

Zomby V Machinedrum

Is there really such a thing as post-dubstep? Wikipedia tells me so. The name’s pretension makes me balk, but so does its slipperiness, much more so than post-rock or any similar classification. At its worst, it’s an insecurity-assuaging shibboleth for dubsteppers who hate the way Skrillex rose to fame. Don’t worry, that irks me too – “Post-dubstep” is a stab in the right direction, at least. If Skrillex et al.’s popularity is any more

DJ Diamond Flight Muzik

Just as John Fahey used dissonance to summon the avant-garde to a hoedown, Chicago’s mutant juke producers have lured the same audience to community dance events on the west side of town by using their samplers like Basho and Kottke used their guitars. Both are pop-cultural reversals that both Gibson and Reynolds would appreciate: entropic systems rampantly feeding upon themselves — juke hasn’t simply extended hip-hop’s co-opted aesthetic of more